🍖 Méchoui Roast Lamb

Name: Méchoui Roast Lamb
Total time: 240 min
Yield: 6
Cuisine: Maghreb · North Africa
Ingredients: 1 lamb shoulder on the bone (about 2 kg); 2 tsp ground cumin, plus extra to serve; 2 tsp sweet paprika; 2 tsp salt; 1 tbsp oil; 200 ml water

Origin: Maghreb · North Africa

490kcal

per serving · 200 g

245kcal

per 100 g

46 gProtein23 g / 100 g

34 gFat17 g / 100 g

1 gCarbs0.5 g / 100 g

This méchoui-style roast is lamb seasoned simply with cumin, paprika and salt and cooked low and slow until it is tender enough to pull apart. The outside browns and smells of toasted spices, while the inside stays juicy. It is served in large pieces to share, with extra cumin and salt on the side for dipping.

Diets

✓

No porkfor halal, the meat must be halal-slaughtered

✓

Gluten-freeno wheat, barley or rye in a typical recipe

✓

Dairy-freeno milk, cheese, butter or yogurt in a typical recipe

✓

Keto-friendly0.5 g carbs per 100 g

✓

High protein23 g protein per 100 g — 38% of the calories

Not vegetarianbecause of: lamb

Not veganbecause of: lamb

Allergens

None of the 14 major allergens in a typical recipe.

What it is made of

lambcuminsaltpaprika

Recipe

6 servings240 min

Ingredients

1 lamb shoulder on the bone (about 2 kg)
2 tsp ground cumin, plus extra to serve
2 tsp sweet paprika
2 tsp salt
1 tbsp oil
200 ml water

Method

Mix the cumin, paprika and salt with the oil and rub over the lamb.
Put the lamb in a roasting tin with the water, cover tightly with foil.
Roast at 160 °C for about 3½ hours until the meat pulls easily from the bone.
Uncover, raise the oven to 220 °C and roast 15–20 minutes to brown the surface.
Rest 10 minutes, pull into pieces and serve with cumin and salt for dipping.

How to make it lighter

Trim the external fat before roasting and skim the fat from the pan juices.
Choose leg instead of shoulder for a leaner roast.
Pair a palm-sized portion of lamb with salads or roasted vegetables.

History

Méchoui is the festive roast lamb of the Maghreb, especially Morocco and Algeria, traditionally cooked whole on a spit or in a clay pit for Eid al-Adha and family celebrations. Home cooks today often make a smaller oven version with a shoulder or leg, keeping the same simple cumin seasoning. It is eaten across North Africa and in North African communities in France.

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Similar dishes

Values are estimates per 100 g for a typical recipe; home and restaurant versions vary. Diets and allergens are worked out from the ingredients of a typical recipe — always check with whoever cooked the dish. Not medical advice. Nutrition data: Me Nutrition dish database v13. How we count →